Albuquerque Marks Route 66 Centennial With Time Capsule
The New Mexico Route 66 Alliance buried a time capsule at Enchanted Trails Trading Post on the city's West Side during the 100th anniversary celebration.
Updated on Nov. 11, 2026 in Seasonal Events
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Albuquerque celebrated the 100th anniversary of Route 66's commissioning on November 11, 2026, with a downtown event at Central and 4th. The New Mexico Route 66 Alliance also buried a time capsule at Enchanted Trails Trading Post.
Why it matters
The celebration highlights Albuquerque's unique place on the historic highway, which is the only place where Route 66 crosses itself and holds the longest urban stretch of the road in the country. The time capsule links the city's past to a future bicentennial opening.
Route 66 was commissioned in 1926 and spans 2,448 miles, with roughly 18 miles running through Albuquerque. The source does not provide attendance figures or visitor counts for the centennial events.
The players
New Mexico Route 66 Alliance
A New Mexico organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of Route 66 in the state.
Visit Albuquerque
The official tourism organization for Albuquerque that promotes visitor activity and events in the city.
The details
Visit Albuquerque set up an information center at Central and 4th and offered free root beer floats and T-shirts at the historic intersection. The time capsule holds coins, pins, autographed books, historic photographs, business cards, and license plates, including one from 1926, and a boulder with a plaque will mark the site near Nine Mile Hill.
Timeline
1926: Route 66 is commissioned, initially running north and south through New Mexico.
1937: The route is rerouted to run east and west through Albuquerque.
November 11, 2026: The centennial is celebrated and the time capsule is buried around 1 p.m.
2126: The time capsule is planned to be opened for the bicentennial.
Seasonal Patterns
The centennial falls in the same period the route has been tied to Albuquerque since its 1937 rerouting from a north-south alignment to an east-west one. The celebration places current events within that long-established local history.
Visitors to Albuquerque can view the time capsule site at Enchanted Trails Trading Post on the West Side. The downtown historic intersection at Central and 4th is where Route 66 crosses itself.
The takeaway
The centennial shows how a single highway can anchor a city's identity across generations. Residents and visitors alike can see that identity at the intersection where the road crosses itself.
What happens next
The time capsule is scheduled to be opened for the bicentennial in 2126.
Further reading
Explore more seasonal events happening across Albuquerque.
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